Mature industries like consumer products are rife with conventional wisdom about innovation that goes something like this: The secret to growth in the consumer goods arena is to develop new products
based on consumer needs, which are discovered through consumer research and focus groups.
Even if the idea is so-so, the feeling goes, strong marketing and advertising can turn the
concept into a hit. And the first to market will capture most of the profits. This kind of thinking leads to cultures that deliberately develop a long list of line extensions -- new flavors of an
established soda brand, say -- rather than game-changing innovations.
The alternative -- one that can help rejuvenate a tired portfolio or a worn-out brand -- is to think about your
innovation strategy as a way to build a high, hard wall between those customers and their strongest competitors. This means shifting some investment away from marketing and advertising toward the
development of different kinds of new products. The most important thing about these game-changing new products is that they be difficult to copy.
Booz & Co. consultants Alexander
Kandybin and Surbhee Grover helpfully set out a seven-step path to breaking the cycle of copy-cat innovation. But it's undermined somewhat by their trepidacious conclusion: "The magic formula for
keeping innovation healthy in a mature industry is knowing there is no magic formula."
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